Kakeru Kumagai

Kakeru Kumagai
Kakeru Kumagai
Personal information
Country	Japan
Born	5 January 2002 (age 23); Ōsaki, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan
Height	1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)
Weight	68 kg (150 lb)
Handedness	Left
Coach	Lee Wan Wah; Hiroyuki Endo
Men's & mixed doubles
Career record	MD: 31 wins, 18 losses (63.27%); XD: 11 wins, 11 losses (50.00%)
Highest ranking	76 (MD with Kota Ogawa, 28 November 2023); 107 (XD with An Sato, 31 October 2023)
Current ranking	109 (MD with Hiroki Nishi, 4 February 2025)
Medal record
Men's badminton
Representing Japan
World Junior Championships
	BWF profile

Kakeru Kumagai (熊谷翔, Kumagai Kakeru, born 5 January 2002) is a Japanese badminton player from Miyagi Prefecture.^[1] He graduated from Nihon University then continued his career as a professional badminton player by joining the BIPROGY badminton team.^[2]

Career

2023

Kumagai joined the 2023 Japan national badminton team (team B), playing men's doubles with Kota Ogawa and mixed doubles with An Sato.^[3] He was coached by Lee Wan Wah, a former Malaysian men's doubles player.

2024

After graduating from Nihon University, Kumagai became a member of the Biprogy badminton team on April 1, 2024.^[4] His focus at Biprogy is doubles, where he is coached by former Japanese men's doubles players Hiroyuki Endo and Kenichi Hayakawa.

At the Kazakhstan International, Kumagai made his international debut with Biprogy, partnering with Hiroki Nishi in men's doubles. The pair defeated Ondřej Král and Adam Mendrek, the world's 47th-ranked pair, in the semi-finals in two straight games. They finished as runner-up after losing in the final against the world's 42nd-ranked pair from France, Lucas Corvée and Ronan Labar.

In June 2024, Kumagai competed in the 74th All Japan Business Corporation Championships as part of the Biprogy team. During the tournament, Kumagai partnered with Yuta Watanabe in the men’s doubles. In the semi-final, they defeated Kazuki Shibata and Naoki Yamada, representatives of the Japan national team, in two straight games, and in the final, they defeated the 2021 world champions Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi, also in two straight games (21–8, 21–18). The Biprogy team won the tournament, defeating the Tonami Transportation team 3-0, and the Kumagai/Watanabe pair were named Most Valuable Players (MVP).^[5]

2025

Kumagai is a member of the 2025 Japan National Team, playing men's doubles with Nishi and coached by Lee Wan Wah and Hiroyuki Endo.^[6]

Achievements

BWF World Tour (2 runners-up)

The BWF World Tour, which was introduced on 19 March 2017 and was held in 2018,^[7] is a series of elite badminton tournaments sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF). The BWF World Tours are divided into levels of World Tour Finals, Super 1000, Super 750, Super 500, Super 300, and the BWF Tour Super 100.^[8]

Men's doubles

Year	Tournament	Level	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result	Ref
2023 (I)	Indonesia Masters	Super 100	Kota Ogawa	Sabar Karyaman Gutama Muhammad Reza Pahlevi Isfahani	18–21, 15–21	Runner-up	^[9]
2024	Odisha Masters	Super 100	Hiroki Nishi	Huang Di Liu Yang	13–21, 21–19, 25–27	Runner-up

BWF International Challenge/Series (1 runner-up)

Men's doubles

Year	Tournament	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result	Ref
2024	Kazakhstan International	Hiroki Nishi	Lucas Corvée Ronan Labar	14–21, 19–21	Runner-up	^[10]

BWF International Challenge tournament

References

^ "Kakeru KUMAGAI | Profile". Badminton World Federation. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
^ "熊谷翔 BIPROGYバドミントンチーム" (in Japanese). BIPROGY Inc. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
^ "【日本代表情報】2023年の日本代表およびスタッフが正式決定！" (in Japanese). Badminton Spirit. 13 January 2023. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
^ "4/1（月）に熊谷翔選手、沖本優大選手、谷岡大后選手、坂井叶選手が加入しました" (in Japanese). BIPROGY Inc. 1 April 2024. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
^ "【【全日本実業団2024】BIPROGYがトナミ運輸に3-0で快勝！7回目のV達成！＜男子結果＞" (in Japanese). Badminton Spirit. 23 June 2024. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
^ "Announcement of the 2025 Japan National Team Players and Staff" (PDF) (in Japanese). Nippon Badminton Association. 21 January 2025. Retrieved 23 January 2025.
^ Alleyne, Gayle (19 March 2017). "BWF Launches New Events Structure". Badminton World Federation. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
^ Sukumar, Dev (10 January 2018). "Action-Packed Season Ahead!". Badminton World Federation. Archived from the original on 13 January 2018. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
^ "Indonesia Masters 2023 - Sabar/Reza Kuasai Podium Teratas" (in Indonesian). Djarum Badminton. 10 September 2023. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
^ Hirata, Noriyasu. "結果カザフスタンインターナショナルチャレンジ2024" (in Japanese). Nippon Badminton Association. Retrieved 25 August 2024.

External links

Kakeru Kumagai at BWFBadminton.com
Kakeru Kumagai at BWF.TournamentSoftware.com (archived)

[1] "Kakeru KUMAGAI | Profile". Badminton World Federation. Retrieved 25 August 2024.

[2] "熊谷翔 BIPROGYバドミントンチーム" (in Japanese). BIPROGY Inc. Retrieved 25 August 2024.

[3] "【日本代表情報】2023年の日本代表およびスタッフが正式決定！" (in Japanese). Badminton Spirit. 13 January 2023. Retrieved 25 August 2024.

[4] "4/1（月）に熊谷翔選手、沖本優大選手、谷岡大后選手、坂井叶選手が加入しました" (in Japanese). BIPROGY Inc. 1 April 2024. Retrieved 25 August 2024.

[5] "【【全日本実業団2024】BIPROGYがトナミ運輸に3-0で快勝！7回目のV達成！＜男子結果＞" (in Japanese). Badminton Spirit. 23 June 2024. Retrieved 25 August 2024.

[6] "Announcement of the 2025 Japan National Team Players and Staff" (PDF) (in Japanese). Nippon Badminton Association. 21 January 2025. Retrieved 23 January 2025.

[7] Alleyne, Gayle (19 March 2017). "BWF Launches New Events Structure". Badminton World Federation. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 29 November 2017.

[8] Sukumar, Dev (10 January 2018). "Action-Packed Season Ahead!". Badminton World Federation. Archived from the original on 13 January 2018. Retrieved 15 January 2018.

[9] "Indonesia Masters 2023 - Sabar/Reza Kuasai Podium Teratas" (in Indonesian). Djarum Badminton. 10 September 2023. Retrieved 25 August 2024.

[10] Hirata, Noriyasu. "結果カザフスタンインターナショナルチャレンジ2024" (in Japanese). Nippon Badminton Association. Retrieved 25 August 2024.

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